--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There is nothing to be gained by…" description: "\"“There is nothing to be gained by multiplying social distinctions indefinitely.”\" — Evelyn Waugh" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/485/evelyn-waugh-850_distinctions_there-is-nothing-to-be-gained-by-multipl_1668924.png" --- # There is nothing to be gained by multiplying social… ![“There is nothing to be gained by multiplying social distinctions indefinitely.” quote by Evelyn Waugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/485/evelyn-waugh-850_distinctions_there-is-nothing-to-be-gained-by-multipl_1668924.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/485/evelyn-waugh-850_distinctions_there-is-nothing-to-be-gained-by-multipl_1668924.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/485/evelyn-waugh-850_distinctions_there-is-nothing-to-be-gained-by-multipl_1668924.png) > ““There is nothing to be gained by multiplying social distinctions indefinitely.”” [Evelyn Waugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evelyn-waugh/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Endless social ranking creates no real benefit; equality fosters genuine progress. **In simple terms:** Social status offers little gain. Key Takeaway Focus on shared humanity over hierarchy. Themes equality social class humility progress community Mood thoughtful critical Type philosophical political When to use this quote - workplace dynamics - educational settings - political discourse Key Concepts social stratification meritocracy collective welfare Questions to Reflect On - How do you navigate social hierarchies? - What values outweigh status for you? A Different Perspective Class distinctions can motivate ambition and order. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Humor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humor/) [Society](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/society/) ## Related quotes > [Social distinctions tend to matter only at your own level and above.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonah-goldberg/social-distinctions-tend-to-matter-only-at-your-own-level-and-above/) [Jonah Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonah-goldberg/) > [Social distinctions concern themselves ultimately with whom you may and may not marry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/social-distinctions-concern-themselves-ultimately-with-whom-you-may/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Words have their genealogy, their history, their economy, their literature, their art and music, as too they have their weddings and divorces, their successes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virgilia-peterson/words-have-their-genealogy-their-history-their-economy-their/) [Virgilia Peterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virgilia-peterson/) > [“Social distinctions can be based only on common utility.” —Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen, article 1, 1789”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-piketty/social-distinctions-can-be-based-only-on-common-utility-declaration/) [Thomas Piketty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-piketty/) > [Woman is born free and lives equal to man in her rights. Social distinctions can be based only on the common utility.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olympe-de-gouges/woman-is-born-free-and-lives-equal-to-man-in-her-rights-social/) [Olympe de Gouges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olympe-de-gouges/) > [It's not about creating 22 episodes indefinitely for as long as you can do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-middleditch/it-s-not-about-creating-22-episodes-indefinitely-for-as-long-as-you/) [Thomas Middleditch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-middleditch/) > [“The average person is in the habit of saying, “The older I get;”’ and he thereby calls the attention of his mind to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-d-larson/the-average-person-is-in-the-habit-of-saying-the-older-i-get-and-he/) [Christian D. Larson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-d-larson/) > [I still think of things for 'Jill' all the time. It's annoying, because I want to be able to find another character who I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-davis/i-still-think-of-things-for-jill-all-the-time-it-s-annoying-because-i/) [Julia Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-davis/) > [There is in government a living impulse to extend itself indefinitely; and there is in freedom a necessity to resist that impulse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garet-garrett/there-is-in-government-a-living-impulse-to-extend-itself-indefinitely/) [Garet Garrett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garet-garrett/) > [“We couldn't go on indefinitely being swept off our feet.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zelda-fitzgerald/we-couldn-t-go-on-indefinitely-being-swept-off-our-feet/) [Zelda Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zelda-fitzgerald/) > [We can at least see that the question is asked, and asked on the basis of a clear recognition that there is no way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rowan-williams/we-can-at-least-see-that-the-question-is-asked-and-asked-on-the-basis/) [Rowan Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rowan-williams/) > [You will be reborn. You will come from the inner to the outer again. This process goes on indefinitely.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/you-will-be-reborn-you-will-come-from-the-inner-to-the-outer-again/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [“need you to go to Catasaga, Nick. Indefinitely.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathryn-shay/need-you-to-go-to-catasaga-nick-indefinitely/) [Kathryn Shay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathryn-shay/) > [“They seemed to have imagined that scientific progress could be allowed to go on indefinitely, regardless of everything else. Knowledge was the highest good,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/they-seemed-to-have-imagined-that-scientific-progress-could-be/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [I was forced to live far beyond my years when just a child, now I have reversed the order and I intend to remain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-pickford/i-was-forced-to-live-far-beyond-my-years-when-just-a-child-now-i-have/) [Mary Pickford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-pickford/) ## More by Evelyn Waugh > [If, for instance, they have heard something from the postman, they attribute it to a semi-official statement; if they have fallen into conversation with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evelyn-waugh/if-for-instance-they-have-heard-something-from-the-postman-they/) [Evelyn Waugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evelyn-waugh/) > [One can write, think and pray exclusively of others; dreams are all egocentric.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evelyn-waugh/one-can-write-think-and-pray-exclusively-of-others-dreams-are-all/) [Evelyn Waugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evelyn-waugh/) > [“Sometimes," Helena continued, "I have a terrible dream of the future. Not now, but presently, people may forget their loyalty to their kings and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evelyn-waugh/sometimes-helena-continued-i-have-a-terrible-dream-of-the-future-not/) [Evelyn Waugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evelyn-waugh/) > [“Rex has never been unkind to me intentionally. It's just that he isn't a real person at all; he's just a few faculties of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evelyn-waugh/rex-has-never-been-unkind-to-me-intentionally-it-s-just-that-he-isn-t/) [Evelyn Waugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evelyn-waugh/) > [If it could only be like this always – always summer, always alone, the fruit always ripe and Aloysius in a good temper...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evelyn-waugh/if-it-could-only-be-like-this-always-always-summer-always-alone-the/) [Evelyn Waugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evelyn-waugh/) > [“My dear, I should like to stick you full of barbed arrows like a p-p-pin cushion...Where do you lurk? I shall come down your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evelyn-waugh/my-dear-i-should-like-to-stick-you-full-of-barbed-arrows-like-a-p-p/) [Evelyn Waugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evelyn-waugh/) > [There is something incomparably thrilling in first opening a brand new book.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evelyn-waugh/there-is-something-incomparably-thrilling-in-first-opening-a-brand/) [Evelyn Waugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evelyn-waugh/) > [“Beware the Anglo-Catholics. They're all sodomites with unpleasant accents." --Cousin Jasper”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evelyn-waugh/beware-the-anglo-catholics-they-re-all-sodomites-with-unpleasant/) [Evelyn Waugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evelyn-waugh/) > [“The fortnight at Venice passed quickly and sweetly-- perhaps too sweetly; I was drowning in honey, stingless.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evelyn-waugh/the-fortnight-at-venice-passed-quickly-and-sweetly-perhaps-too/) [Evelyn Waugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evelyn-waugh/) > [“It’s awful to think that I shall probably never, as long as I live, see you dancing like that again all by yourself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evelyn-waugh/it-s-awful-to-think-that-i-shall-probably-never-as-long-as-i-live-see/) [Evelyn Waugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evelyn-waugh/) > [I've always been bad. Probably I shall be bad again, punished again. But the worse I am, the more I need God. I can't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evelyn-waugh/i-ve-always-been-bad-probably-i-shall-be-bad-again-punished-again-but/) [Evelyn Waugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evelyn-waugh/) > [His courtesy was somewhat extravagant. He would write and thank people who wrote to thank him for wedding presents and when he encountered anyone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evelyn-waugh/his-courtesy-was-somewhat-extravagant-he-would-write-and-thank-people/) [Evelyn Waugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evelyn-waugh/) > [Limbo is the place. In Limbo one has natural happiness without the beatific vision; no harps; no communal order; but wine and conversation and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evelyn-waugh/limbo-is-the-place-in-limbo-one-has-natural-happiness-without-the/) [Evelyn Waugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evelyn-waugh/) > [“What is adolescence without trash?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evelyn-waugh/what-is-adolescence-without-trash/) [Evelyn Waugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evelyn-waugh/) > [Perhaps host and guest is really the happiest relation for father and son.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evelyn-waugh/perhaps-host-and-guest-is-really-the-happiest-relation-for-father-and/) [Evelyn Waugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evelyn-waugh/) [Explore all 347 Evelyn Waugh quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evelyn-waugh/) ## More Distinctions quotes > [Many persons have been confused and discouraged at the very outset of the study by the great variety and the delicate distinctions of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-staunton/many-persons-have-been-confused-and-discouraged-at-the-very-outset-of/) [Howard Staunton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-staunton/) > [The distinctions of fine art bore me to death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-sendak/the-distinctions-of-fine-art-bore-me-to-death/) [Maurice Sendak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-sendak/) > [To those of us who remained committed mainly to the exploration of moral distinctions and ambiguities, the feminist analysis may have seemed a particularly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/to-those-of-us-who-remained-committed-mainly-to-the-exploration-of/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [“If we want to decode our community's deep-seated fibers, we must go and see the world and explore the significant distinctions and resemblances. To…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-pevernagie/if-we-want-to-decode-our-community-s-deep-seated-fibers-we-must-go/) [Erik Pevernagie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-pevernagie/) > [The highest of distinctions is service to others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-highest-of-distinctions-is-service-to-others/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Place, time, life, death, earth, heaven are divisions and distinctions we make, like the imaginary lines we trace upon the surface of the globe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fanny-kemble/place-time-life-death-earth-heaven-are-divisions-and-distinctions-we/) [Fanny Kemble](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fanny-kemble/) > [“Product distinctions, the historic centerpiece of product marketing, exist only briefly—and in the prospects’ minds, often not at all.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-beckwith/product-distinctions-the-historic-centerpiece-of-product-marketing/) [Harry Beckwith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-beckwith/) > [Social distinctions tend to matter only at your own level and above.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonah-goldberg/social-distinctions-tend-to-matter-only-at-your-own-level-and-above/) [Jonah Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonah-goldberg/) > [Words have their genealogy, their history, their economy, their literature, their art and music, as too they have their weddings and divorces, their successes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virgilia-peterson/words-have-their-genealogy-their-history-their-economy-their/) [Virgilia Peterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virgilia-peterson/) > [The distinctions of what makes a book one genre or another can sometimes be a bit muddy, but generally it's a matter of projecting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/therese-fowler/the-distinctions-of-what-makes-a-book-one-genre-or-another-can/) [Therese Fowler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/therese-fowler/) > [All our distinctions ire accidental; beauty and deformity, though personal qualities, are neither entitled to praise nor censure; yet it so happens that they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-georg-ritter-von-zimmermann/all-our-distinctions-ire-accidental-beauty-and-deformity-though/) [Johann Georg Ritter von Zimmermann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-georg-ritter-von-zimmermann/) > [“I wanted to tell them that they had made a mistake. I wasn’t like them. I didn’t want the same things that they wanted,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ling-ma/i-wanted-to-tell-them-that-they-had-made-a-mistake-i-wasn-t-like-them/) [Ling Ma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ling-ma/) > [Wit makes its own welcome, and levels all distinctions. No dignity, no learning, no force of character, can make any stand against good wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/wit-makes-its-own-welcome-and-levels-all-distinctions-no-dignity-no/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [I think it is absurd to give such tremendous importance to the distinctions between men and women. When I meet someone I regard that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jiddu-krishnamurti/i-think-it-is-absurd-to-give-such-tremendous-importance-to-the/) [Jiddu Krishnamurti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jiddu-krishnamurti/) > [Making distinctions is part of learning. So is making mistakes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-gibbs/making-distinctions-is-part-of-learning-so-is-making-mistakes/) [Nancy Gibbs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-gibbs/) Browse all 65 Distinctions quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“There is nothing to be gained by multiplying social distinctions indefinitely.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Evelyn Waugh" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evelyn-waugh/there-is-nothing-to-be-gained-by-multiplying-social-distinctions/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Distinctions" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evelyn-waugh/there-is-nothing-to-be-gained-by-multiplying-social-distinctions/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/485/evelyn-waugh-850_distinctions_there-is-nothing-to-be-gained-by-multipl_1668924.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/485/evelyn-waugh-850_distinctions_there-is-nothing-to-be-gained-by-multipl_1668924.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/485/evelyn-waugh-850_distinctions_there-is-nothing-to-be-gained-by-multipl_1668924.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“There is nothing to be gained by multiplying social distinctions indefinitely.” — Evelyn Waugh", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Evelyn Waugh", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evelyn-waugh/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“There is nothing to be gained...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evelyn-waugh/there-is-nothing-to-be-gained-by-multiplying-social-distinctions/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evelyn-waugh/there-is-nothing-to-be-gained-by-multiplying-social-distinctions/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```